Peripeteia

Dracula seminar

Here is a set of resources for you to look at before we begin the seminar. It is always interesting to think about the contexts within which any literary text has been produced, received or reproduced. I have deliberately stayed away from Bela Lugosi and other film adaptations – though there are, of course, many of these. Take some time to work through these resources before we begin to help you frame your
thoughts about Stoker’s famous novel.

Dracula – a ballet by Philip Feeney

The composer Philip Feeney has written a ballet version of Dracula. Listen to a selection of the music for the ballet at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4A6nNfwKY&list=OLAK5uy_mznDy7pJ123P9GfAZtl0V3aEHrcJ3KuZ4

Dracula - Philip Feeney

As you listen, think about the following:
1. What aspects of Stoker’s novel does Feeney seem to be picking up on and emphasise through the music?
2. Can you identify any motifs that seem to relate to specific moments or scenes or ideas from the novel? Why do you think Feeney might have chosen to highlight these?
3. In what ways does listening to the music make you think again or in different
ways about the novel?

Illustrating Dracula – John Coulthart

The artist John Coulthart has created a set of illustrations for the novel. You can find these at https://www.johncoulthart.com/feuilleton/2018/06/01/illustrating-dracula/

Consider Coulthart’s representation of the text in the illustrations. What do these make you think about:
1. Are there any illustrations you find particularly or striking? Why?
2. Male figures in the novel?
3. Female figures in the novel?
4. Stoker’s use of setting?
5. The role of the visual in the novel?

How do these representations relate to your own reading of the novel?

The vampire before Stoker

One famed vampire tale from before Stoker is by John Polidori, Lord Byron’s doctor. He was living at the Villa Diodati as part of the houseparty of 1816 that gave rise most famously to Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein. His own contribution to the notorious ghost storytelling competition was The Vampyre. The whole text - it is only really a short story - can be found at Project Gutenberg.

As you read it, think about:
1. The similarities and differences between Polidori’s vampire and Stoker’s.
2. The use of foreign locations and their significance.
3. The use of male and female characters.
4. The idea of pursuit in the two texts.
5. How does Polidori create a sense of threat? How does this relate to Stoker’s methods in Dracula?

Byron himself wrote a long poem entitled The Giaour, in which the following lines appear; What is there here that you find of interest in comparison to Stoker’s novel?

But first on earth, as Vampyre sent,
Thy corse shall from its tomb be rent;
Then ghastly haunt the native place,
And suck the blood of all thy race;
There from thy daughter, sister, wife,
At midnight drain the stream of life;
Yet loathe the banquet which perforce
Must feed thy livid living corse,
Thy victims, ere they yet expire,
Shall know the demon for their sire;
As cursing thee, thou cursing them,
Thy flowers are withered on the stem.
But one that for thy crime must fall,
The youngest, best beloved of all,
Shall bless thee with a father's name—
That word shall wrap thy heart in flame!
Yet thou must end thy task and mark
Her cheek's last tinge—her eye's last spark,
And the last glassy glance must view
Which freezes o'er its lifeless blue;
Then with unhallowed hand shall tear
The tresses of her yellow hair,
Of which, in life a lock when shorn
Affection's fondest pledge was worn—
But now is borne away by thee
Memorial of thine agony!
Yet with thine own best blood shall drip;
Thy gnashing tooth, and haggard lip;
Then stalking to thy sullen grave,
Go—and with Gouls and Afrits rave,
Till these in horror shrink away
From spectre more accursed than they.

Good evening vampire lovers.

Hello!

Hello, Mitchell. We'll give a it a few minutes to allow others - hopefully - to arrive.

Hi Andrew!

Right - it's 7 o'clock, so let's get going.

I'm listening to the Philip Feeney ballet music as I type. Does anyone have any thoughts about this as a starter?

Or the illustrations or wider reading ideas I shared before the seminar?

Evening, Neil.

Hit me some vampire knowledge!

One of the things that strikes me listening to the music is the way Feeney starts with a knocking sound - it sets the tone with the idea of having to be willing to allow the vampire in. he can't come in without 'permission'. How does that perhaps relate to the novel and to readers?

How does this relate to the Count's invitation to Harker at the beginning of the novel to 'enter freely and of your own will' - or words to that effect?

Doesn't Dracula have to invite Jonathan into his castle? Does that suggest something about subconscious desires maybe?

Dracula, at least in the original Stoker novel, does not seek permission to enter, he just invades.

Dracula can only enter a space if he is invited in

He does. In what sense does that seem to suggest ideas of mutual desire?

Yes, Mich. Dracula can only enter if invited, or if - as Lady Westenra does - someone opens the window. Renfield, too.

Doesn't Dracula have to invite Jonathan into his castle? If I recall correctly, the door is opened by Dracula himself when TH first arrives.
If you look at True Blood or, more recently, Sinners, the request for entry is linked directly to seduction.

But Hughie is surely right too. Dracula isn't invited onto the boat or into Whitby is he?

What about later in the novel when there seems to be some mutual ability of The Count and Mina Harker to invade each other's thoughts?

maybe it's to do with the idea that Victorians are scared that the women are complicit in their seduction by the count and in part allow him to invade?

Interesting idea, Neil. There's certainly a sense of Dracula as invader, but that needs perhaps to be balanced with the factors that limit him? He can roam freely across Europe, in London, etc. However, he can only continue to exist on the earth he has brought with him. How do we make sense of these differing situations?

Hi Tabby. welcome. I think that's certainly an area of interest in the novel. What does it seem to say about the New Woman and the idea that there is something threatening about evolving roles of women in the dying years of Victoria's reign?

It's one of the prevalent themes - the lack of control that ordinary mortals have over the 'other' ; his shape-shifting abilities also make it difficult to know what or where he might be.

He does appear out of [seemingly] nowhere quite a lot of the time. He is polite yet completely treacherous at the same time.

He is, of course, particularly powerful in relation to other 'othered' characters in the novel - the female characters. Renfield.

Wouldn't it have been reassuring to the Victorian readership for Dracula to have these achilles heels. I've always thought the Crew of Light should have squashed him when he was in vampire moth form...

You're touching there o the element of the supernatural, Hughie. Have you thought about any significant contexts related to Gothic and horror or supernatural fiction?

They do take a very long time to finally and properly accost him.

The Crew of Light - interesting grouping. A reflection of the Holy Trinity to challenge the Count? Or the Unholy Trinity of female vampires Jonathan encounters?

They also serve to emphasise the Count's power. It takes three men's blood to try to save the blood sucked out by one.

I think its interesting how Stoker both praises and almost seeks to confine female empowerment, particularly with Mina who is praised for her intelligence but only when she submits to male authority. Do you know if Stoker himself felt threatened or destabilised by the New Woman movement?

Have you thought about any significant contexts related to Gothic and horror or supernatural fiction?

It is linked to liminality - Dracula is permanently on the threshold.
Fear of the unknown, the sheer scale of the castle and its labyrinthine [spelling?] nature, Harker as the reverse / converse DID.

Yes, Hughie. they do take a long time. Ramping up of tension? And then, of course, they can only do it with the help of Mina. And in that, the Count is at least partially responsible for his own downfall, having 'given away' something of himself in his vampire union with her.

having 'given away' something of himself in his vampire union with her.

I like this interpretation.

Can I add - this is my first time in this forum. Is it just a back and forth or does someone address the masses?

I only ask since it mentions seminar...

I think its interesting how Stoker both praises and almost seeks to confine female empowerment, particularly with Mina who is praised for her intelligence but only when she submits to male authority. Do you know if Stoker himself felt threatened or destabilised by the New Woman movement?

I think that he, like most men of the era, must have been very much aware of the changing mood music surrounding women's rights, developing views on female sexuality (see Lucy W), women's suffrage, the excess female population, etc.

It is linked to liminality - Dracula is permanently on the threshold.
Fear of the unknown, the sheer scale of the castle and its labyrinthine [spelling?] nature, Harker as the reverse / converse DID.

Liminality a key idea here and really interesting to apply this to the concepts and the settings of the novel - coastal settings like Whitby, the 'edges of civilisation' like The Carpathians, the river, the suburbs, graveyards where life touches death, etc.

Thanks for your question, Hughie. It is a to and fro to share ideas. Did you see the pre-seminar activities?

I think its interesting how Stoker both praises and almost seeks to confine female empowerment, particularly with Mina who is praised for her intelligence but only when she submits to male authority. Do you know if Stoker himself felt threatened or destabilised by the New Woman movement?

From my relatively limited knowledge - thus far - about Stoker's background, he was very conservative in his views, so the New Woman would have proved quite the shock to his system.

Yet, he seems supportive of Mina's character, yet exposes the more lustful side to femininity through his portrayal of Lucy.

Do you think that Stoker is optimistic about modernity in fighting Dracula, and to a larger extent evil, or do you think Stoker reinforces that medieval knowledge and superstition are more valuable?

Did you see the pre-seminar activities?

Yes, although I didn't have the chance to listen to the music in time.

This union is, of course, a mock marriage - we have the bizarre three in a bed consummation scene with The Count, Mina and Jonathan - how on earth did that one get past the Victorian establishment publishers??!! - In the marriage service it stresses how husband and wife become one flesh.

Do listen to it - it's great. The illustrations etc and the other texts suggested are also interesting contexts for both production and reception of the novel.

Do you think that Dracula is optimistic about modernity in fighting Dracula, and to a larger extent evil, or do you think Stoker reinforces that medieval knowledge and superstition are more valuable?

Good question, Tabby. Stoker certainly saw his novel as cutting edge in terms of dealing with new advances in medicine - blood transfusion and treatment of the mentally unwell - and in terms of new technology - Mina's work.

I think he is very aware of sitting on the cusp of a new century and at a turning point in technology. Within 20 years the world was seeing the unleashing of technological warfare on an unprecedented scale, and the naval and military arms race that would precipitate the war was well advanced n his time. In fact a later collection of stories called 'Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories' was published in 1914.

What is the significance of Renfield's fluctuating madness?

As a context, also worth noting that the novel was written during the period of the Boer Wars - brutal wars in South Africa during which the British invented the first concentration camps. Not a great moment in our history!

What is the significance of Renfield's fluctuating madness?

I guess in a way it reflects the ups and downs of the female characters The Count also preys upon. They are propped up by blood transfusions - Renfield is propped up by his treatments with Dr Seward. His zoophagous eating, of course, reflects his own need to feed on other life forms.

How about a different topic for discussion - what do you make of Stoker's use of multiple narratives?

What is the significance of Renfield's fluctuating madness?

I guess in a way it reflects the ups and downs of the female characters The Count also preys upon. They are propped up by blood transfusions - Renfield is propped up by his treatments with Dr Seward. His zoophagous eating, of course, reflects his own need to feed on other life forms.

I think there is an interesting link between the illusion of objectivity and subjectivity. Stoker almost seems like he wants to move away from the common unreliable narrator in gothic literature to more cold hard evidence (even though the diary entries and letters are still subjective)

Further reflections on Renfield - what other characters in the novel are seen as actually insane or treated as if they are?

I appreciated how the writing created a sense of intimacy with the characters, but at times it felt as though they all spoke in a similar voice, which reduced the distinctiveness of their individual characters

Surely it allows the reader to become more empathetic towards the chartacters the more they suffer both physically and emotionally.

I think there is an interesting link between the illusion of objectivity and subjectivity. Stoker almost seems like he wants to move away from the common unreliable narrator in gothic literature to more cold hard evidence (even though the diary entries and letters are still subjective)

Interesting thoughts, Tabby. Are subjective narratives always unreliable? Should we always be suspicious?

What about the narrative function of newspaper reports etc as well?

Thanks, Hughie. Yes - multiple subjectivities. Role of multiple perspectives ad the different ways in which they interact to give alternative in-text interpretations of central events?

We are, perhaps, programmed to instinctively trust newspaper reporting as opposed to opinion pieces...

I appreciated how the writing created a sense of intimacy with the characters, but at times it felt as though they all spoke in a similar voice, which reduced the distinctiveness of their individual characters

Does this perhaps align with the idea that ultimately most of the narrative voices align 'against' The Count and have, therefore, to reflect one another?

How about the rather bizarre attempts to create Van Helsiing's voice?

Interesting thoughts, Tabby. Are subjective narratives always unreliable? Should we always be suspicious?

I think the idea of Mina collecting, editing and typing up people's accounts of the action is interesting. Maybe shows that there can be no objective truth (especially in the face of the supernatural, as Dracula does not fit readily into the ways Victorians thought about things) as we don't know how much Mina edits and maybe omits details

I love the way Stoker uses the newspaper entries and its simplicity. How the fear increases just because more people know about the boat.

Anyone read any Victorian Sensation fiction? There are several great novels by a man called Wilkie Collins - a close friend of Charles Dickens - written in the 1860s that use multiple narrators in a similar fashion. The Woman in White, the Moonstone, No Name and Armadale are his best. These all deal with transgressive forces from abroad and/or female characters. An interesting context for Stoker's novel.

I read The Woman in White when at school and enjoyed it : mysterious and drawn out.

I think the idea of Mina collecting, editing and typing up people's accounts of the action is interesting. Maybe shows that there can be no objective truth (especially in the face of the supernatural, as Dracula does not fit readily into the ways Victorians thought about things) as we don't know how much Mina edits and maybe omits details

Yes, Tabby. Mina is given a great deal of 'authority' in the text. She is a kind of moral authority and she works on the text as you say in a way as an author.

The Woman in White is a great novel, I loved it.

Glad you've read that one, Hughie. It's my favourite of Collins's novels. You might want to think about how (and whether) Stoker develops this method in Dracula. in what senses might Mina be compared to Marion Halcombe? In what ways might The Count be compared to Count Fosco? In what ways might Jonathan Harker relate to Walter Hartwright?

Shows how Stoker is picking up on the tropes of Sensation fiction, which was an immensely popular genre at the time.

I love the way Stoker uses the newspaper entries and its simplicity. How the fear increases just because more people know about the boat.

Good observation, Mascha. Also makes us question the extent to which journalism has the capacity to reveal and he extent to which it chooses to sensationalise and to conceal in order to create its effects.

Our hour's nearly up. What do you all feel about the ending of the novel. Is it a neat and tidy they all lived happily ever after ending?

Sorry to butt in Andrew. But are there any critics you think are particularly interesting writing about either 'Dracula' or The Gothic more widely? My students have to include critics in an essay comparing 'Dracula' with 'The Bloody Chamber'...

I really like the end of the novel. It feels unresolved as although Dracula is killed it says that the castle of Count Dracula still stands after 8 years. Possibly the idea of the castle as a visual reminder of evil.

Just casting my eye along the bookshelf in the picture behind our discussion - David Punter's book Gothic Pathologies is well worth a read.

Also makes us question the extent to which journalism has the capacity to reveal and he extent to which it chooses to sensationalise and to conceal in order to create its effects.

...which absolutely matches Dracula's appearance.

I'm a fan of Botting's The Gothic. There are also some really helpful essays in the various companions to The Gothic, such as the Blackwell and Cambridge guides.

Punter also wrote an excellent chapter on Stoker amongst others in The Literature of Terror.

There is a sequence of excellent articles on the novel published by The Eglish and Media Centre in e magazine

Yes, Botting very good. Also a book called Gothic Histories by Clive Bloom.

There is also - more unusual - a book called The Uses of Enchantment by Bruno Bettelheim that looks at the importance of fairy tale - this relates very closely to Carter and arguably to Stoker too, if we see the novel as a moral fable.

Honestly, though, Andrew how great a novel do think 'Dracula' is? Isn't it a bit schlocky?

And I say that despite being a vampire myself, as my students might tell you.

Like may of the great novels! I think Wuthering Heights falls into the same category in lots of ways. Heathcliff is compared to vampire at one stage, of course.So do other greats like the sensation novels we talked about. I think that Dracula and other books like it often get a bad press simply because they have been so successful and become so popular - the bizarre idea that if it's too popular it can't be too good!

Fair enough. Thanks so much for hosting this seminar Andrew. It's been really interesting and useful. And thanks too to everyone who contributed, especially Tabitha and Hughie who did a great job!

Thanks again Andrew and good luck everyone with your exams.

can confirm that he's a vampire!

Gothic, like horror and crime and spy fiction is often seen as a poor relative in the canon. However, once you move into HE, views are very different. And there's plenty of schlocky - I love your word - Shakespeare too.

Thanks everyone. This has been fun. I wish you ll the very best with your A levels.

thank you!

You're most welcome.

thank you!

Thank you!

thank you- very interesting!

Many thanks!

Good evening to all, and thanks Neil for the opportunity to do this.

Thank you!

thank you!

If there are no further questions, I will say goodbye.

Or perhaps just vanish in a puff of smoke

Just don't open it if there's a knocking at the window later!

I should add - I am a teacher and I mostly cover Carter rather than Stoker.

I think I'll change my username.

Ah, and an ex lawyer, like Harker, I believe. Thanks for your contributions Hugh - next year I'll arrange a Bloody Chamber seminar.

Thanks too to Mitchell who also contributed significantly, unlike Mattea.